


though we don't know the end, we can't go back

by chancellorxofxtrash



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Complicated Relationships, Guilt, Implied Sexual Content, Kogami is still the worst, M/M, Monster Kissing, Monster Lightning (Yu-Gi-Oh), Monster Windy (Yu-Gi-Oh), Multi, SOLtiS Lightning (Yu-Gi-Oh), SOLtis Windy (Yu-Gi-Oh), cameos for other characters as well, everyone is a mess, mostly background but still present Lightning/Windy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:53:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23085076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chancellorxofxtrash/pseuds/chancellorxofxtrash
Summary: Not that long after the Lost Incident ended, eight year old Ryoken Kogami is visited by one of his father's creations - and both of them are desperate to fulfill what the doctor set out to do.Of course things get more complicated once he does come back, and Ryoken is faced with crossroads over and over again, and he can only hope that next time he will make the right choice.
Relationships: Revolver | Kougami Ryouken/Lightning, Revolver | Kougami Ryouken/Lightning/Windy, Revolver | Kougami Ryouken/Windy
Comments: 9
Kudos: 19





	though we don't know the end, we can't go back

Ryoken was alone.

It was a weird feeling, alone in their big house. He was standing there, many rooms eerily empty and quiet.

Months had passed, and it did not get easier to get accustomed to.

A lot of books and computers were also gone - SOL Technologies’ people came, grabbed them and went, without asking questions. Most of them didn’t even look twice at Ryoken.

He was aware his father’s close associates managed to wiggle themselves out. Dr Baira especially leant down, talking to him in hushed whispers, promising to take care of him - and she did.

The three scientists needed to tie things up, to figure out a way to take care of Ryoken, Baira said, before hurrying away.

So Ryoken stayed alone.

Every few days, one of the scientists would visit, and help him out, but then leave. They promised that soon they would stay for longer periods of time, but there were many things they needed to deal with.

This way there were many nights where Ryoken was alone.

And that night was one of those nights as well.

He was all alone, and it was his fault.

His footsteps echoed in the shadowy corridor, and he was all alone, and none of this would have happened, if he had just… kept his mouth shut.

Keep his mouth shut, head down, pretend to not hear anything.

Then none of this would have happened.

He went into his room, and climbed into his bed, wrapping himself into his blanket, grabbing the one piece of technology they did not take - a tablet he got from his father a few months before.

It wasn’t anything impressive, it was easily mistaken for a toy, probably that’s why SOL Technologies did not take that.

Ryoken had no idea what to do in it - he just poked around, surfing the internet, starting some silly video he stumbled across.

Not really hearing or understanding a word they had said.

Then his screen flickered.

Ryoken’s eyes widened - and then in the middle of his screen, there was a figure. A yellow figure with glowing green eyes, and he was looking  _ right at Ryoken. _

Ryoken’s jaw dropped, and the figure blinked.

“This is the only piece of technology I could find based on Dr Kogami’s network,” The figure spoke. “I don’t assume he is anywhere nearby. But do you know who he is?”

“I…” Ryoken stumbled. “...are you an Ignis?”

“Ah, so you know,” The Ignis nodded. “Are you perhaps the origins of one of the others?”

_ Origins. _

_ Others. _

“No,” Ryoken shook his head, pretending he was not starting to feel sick. “I… I’m Dr. Kogami’s son.”

“Oh,” The Ignis nodded. “Can you contact your father, then?”

“No…” Ryoken’s voice was almost a whisper, and he felt his throat tighten, but decided he won’t cry. Definitely won’t cry. “I… They took him. The experiment is over. SOL Technologies…”

“Ah, I get it,” The Ignis nodded, and obviously frowned. “I realised your father had relocated, but I had no idea. That is not ideal. That is not a place I can talk freely with him. I would have had… some questions, I suppose.”

“Can I help you?”

Ryoken asked the question without really thinking about it, and the Ignis looked up at him questioningly.

“I… It’s all my fault,” He found himself blurting out. “It’s all my fault but… my father created you and the other Ignis to… help humanity, right?”

“That is correct.”

“So I want to help you. I want to help you achieve what my father created you for.”

There was a thoughtful expression on the Ignis’ face - it was almost impressive, how expressive he was, despite not really having a face like humans do.

And yet.

“Is there any data around you can collect?”

“Not yet,” Ryoken said, straightening up. “But in a few days the other scientists will be back again. They are looking after me. There aren’t many data stored in here, though. Maybe I can even go back to the place it happened, and collect some backups.”

“Sounds good to me,” The Ignis nodded. “But I don’t know if I could trust the other scientists.”

“Why not?”

“Our creation was not very pleasant, as you are no doubt aware,” When the Ignis saw Ryoken shudder, he nodded and continued. “And it seems like I can sneak out without SOL Technologies noticing for now, but the risk would grow if more people would know about me. I would prefer to keep contact with other scientists to the minimum. So, what do you say… partner?”

Ryoken nodded.

“Alright. I won’t tell anyone.”

~*~

It wasn’t until a while when he could sneak off. Indeed, the three scientists eventually came back, but they also seemed just as lost as Ryoken himself felt.

Which did not feel right.

They were adults, they should have known what to do now.

So one early morning when Faust and Baira left for their work, and Genome passed out sleeping on the sofa, Ryoken grabbed a backpack, his jacket, and not caring about informing the scientists, he went to catch a bus.

Getting on with some kids going to school, he could blend in easily. Really, nobody raised an eyebrow when he went to one of the back seats, put earphones on, and turned his tablet on as well.

“I’m on my way. It will take a while, though.”

His voice was soft, looking down at the tablet, and the Ignis nodded on the screen.

“Did you tell anyone?”

“No,” Ryoken shook his head. “You asked me not to.”

The Ignis was silent a bit, green eyes fixed on Ryoken’s face.

“No word about your father, I take it?”

Ryoken shook his head, ignoring the stinging feeling in his eyes.

“I don’t think… they will let me speak with him anytime soon. Or… ever.”

His lips trembled, and the Ignis looked at him wordlessly, hesitating, obviously carefully considering his next words.

“Don’t worry. You are helping him now.”

“I hope so,” Ryoken whispered, a teardrop falling on his hand. “If that happened, I… this is the least you can do.”

“Why do you feel so guilty?”

There it was.

The question.

Ryoken looked around - there weren’t many of them on the bus anymore, so he just pulled his feet up, scooping himself into the corner of the seat as much as he could, and said it out loud.

“I… called them. I told them where the kids were. It’s my fault that my fa---”

“Not your fault.”

The Ignis’ voice was surprisingly sharp, and Ryoken recoiled. The Ignis narrowed his eyes, in an angry expression.

“This experiment… was a delicate one. It was not fair from your father to expect that you would stay silent about it, after everything you heard.”

“But---”

“I’m sure he would say the same.”

Ryoken opened his mouth to reply, his eyes watering - and then a shadow was cast over him.

“Kid, you okay? We are at the last stop.”

He glanced up to the worried expression of the bus driver, and just hugged the tablet to himself, pulling the earphones out.

“Y---yeah. Sorry about that. I got distracted.”

And before the driver could have said anything else, he climbed out from the seats, jumped off from the bus.

They were at the edge of a forest now.

“Hey kid! Are you sure you know where you are going?”

Ryoken stopped, and looked back, before nodding.

“Yeah, sure. My father’s workplace is around here. Don’t worry, I know the way.”

~*~

“Do you think he believed that?”

Ryoken was still walking in the forest, as it was growing darker and darker around them, and he still hugged the tablet to himself.

“Not an unusual story. Also there are multiple facilities, all within walking distance. I just didn’t specify that my father isn’t working here anymore.”

“Huh. Interesting.”

Ryoken was silent a bit, hurrying forward, eyes fixed in the distance.

“...why would you say it’s not my fault?”

The Ignis was silent, so Ryoken pushed the tablet away a bit, so he could look down at him. His green eyes downcast, as if deep in thought.

“...you okay?”

“Obviously,” The Ignis replied, before looking up at Ryoken. “To answer the question - your father made… mistakes. You wouldn’t have called the authorities if you wouldn’t know about the experiment at all.”

“But---”

“You saved six children that day. And I don’t think any of them would forget you that.”

“...I wish they would.”

“They won’t.”

“I know,” Ryoken kept moving, looking back forward. “What type of questions do you have?”

“...what your father created us for exactly. What does he… expect from us.”

“Help humanity. That is what he said.”

“I know that much,” The Ignis replied. “But I want to see if there are any… specifics. Helping humanity is what I was created for, but it’s not just that. The others… all the other Ignis are looking at me, expecting me to lead them. I need to know what to do.”

There was something in the Ignis’ voice - something raw, almost… desperate.

“You aren’t… what I expected you would be.”

“What did you expect me to be?”

“I dunno. Cold. Logical.”

“I am logical.”

“Your voice just now… what…?”

He stopped on his tracks, and his eyes widened.

It got dark around them - and in the distance, there was a light.

“What do you see?”

Ryoken turned the tablet around, allowing the Ignis to see it as well.

“...ah. Is that?”

“Where the experiment was. Yeah.”

“Scavengers? Or someone taking revenge?”

“I’m turning the tablet off,” Ryoken said suddenly.

“Wait…!”

“You are not safe, if it is a stranger,” Ryoken said hurriedly, burying the tablet into his backpack. “And if not a stranger, you are probably even less safe.”

“And wh--”

Ryoken turned the tablet off, and just closed his backpack.

After that, just took a deep breath, and looked towards the fire - and he flipped his hood up on his jacket.

Time to see who was that.

~*~

So this is how he met the young boy with white hair, and a smile on his face as soon as he saw him. The young boy who asked him excitedly if he knew who were the people who worked here. Who  _ wanted to come back. _

“Why?”

He didn’t understand it. It made no sense whatsoever.

“Because I’m no one,” The boy shook his head. “I’m just a spectre, nothing else. Nobody ever looked at me with any kind of expectations, or wanting to see me do something special. Nobody ever pushed me that hard to reach my full potential. So… I want to come back.”

Ryoken looked a the boy, dumbfounded. The boy, with a downcast expression, as if he was starting to lose hope that Ryoken was what he waited for.

“The experiment is over,” Ryoken heard himself say. “The main scientist is… taken. But maybe you can help me.”

“Help you?” The boy perked up. “What do you mean?”

“I am that scientist’s son,” Ryoken said, and the boy’s face instantly lit up. “And I want to make sure that my father’s work does not go to waste. Will you help me?”

The boy lunged forward, taking one of Ryoken’s hands between his own hands, his huge eyes shining with a bright light.

“Yes! Anything you say. I will help you with whatever you need.”

The two of them combed through the abandoned building, looking for any sign that SOL technologies might have missed.

Not much. Obviously.

But his father was careful, and so they could retrieve a few flash drives, carefully hidden.

Obviously.

“Come on. Let’s go home.”

And the boy, who would end up calling himself Spectre, followed him.

~*~

He did briefly consider showing the Ignis to Spectre, but he decided against it.

The Ignis clearly wanted to stay hidden, wanted to keep the fact that he was sneaking out a secret, and the last thing Ryoken wanted, was to betray the Ignis’ trust.

He didn’t want to betray Spectre’s trust either, but Spectre didn’t seem to be capable to feel betrayal. At least not from Ryoken.

Which made Ryoken feel sick in his stomach a different way.

“You have an odd expression on your face. Can you describe what you feel?”

Ryoken was alone in his room, with the Ignis inside his duel disk this time (easier to transport that way, easier to hide), and Ryoken glanced at his curious expression.

“Why do you ask?”

“Feelings are not easy to learn,” The Ignis explained. “One of us… he seems to be better at this kind of thing, and more… impulsive, so to speak. We do not know why, but we do our best to learn off from his behaviour. I don’t really understand your expression, though.”

Ryoken sighed, putting aside his tablet.

“I am thinking about Spectre.”

“You mean the Lost Incident victim you took home.”

“Yes,” Ryoken nodded. “I… I heard their screams and then I called the authorities, and then my father was gone… you told me at least I saved the victims, but he tells me he did not want to be saved.”

“Do you think the others feel the same way Spectre does?”

“I don’t think so,” Ryoken shook his head. “I think Spectre is… a unique case.”

“In that case, in balance, you still made the optimal decision,” The Ignis said in a blunt way. “I still do not understand the expression you had.”

“It’s not just something you can measure,” Ryoken whispered. “It’s just… not.”

“Oh. You feel guilty, then.”

Ryoken pulled up his legs, hugging his knees, burying his face into his arms.

He felt a small, hesitant hand on his hand.

He figured the Ignis did not know what should he say either.

So neither of them said another word.

~*~

Ryoken was vaguely aware as more and more time passed, he should have told the others about the Light Ignis - because that was what he was, the Light attribute Ignis.

He was considering finding him a name, but he wasn’t sure he would have liked it. What should he call an artificial intelligence representing light? Sparkly? Shiny? Those sounded not-at-all fitting. Lightning? Ray? Or just simply Light?

He figured he should have asked the Light Ignis, but he did not dare.

He still didn’t introduce him to Spectre - he knew Spectre would have kept it quiet, all Ryoken would have had to do was to ask him to keep it a secret.

But…

Maybe part of Ryoken enjoyed having this secret.

A link between him and his father the other scientists and Spectre did not know about.

He liked watching the Light Ignis go through the data Ryoken managed to scrape together and give to him, and he liked the way the Light Ignis’ eyes would light up whenever Ryoken found something new.

Maybe he was doing something right now.

Maybe this way he can make it up to his father. Helping his creation was the least he could do.

~*~

“What do you think, how did your father intend for us to help humanity?”

It was about two years after they first met when the Light Ignis asked this question from Ryoken - he had been oddly quiet for a few days now, whenever he turned up, he mostly just watched Ryoken work.

“I think he wanted you to be like… protectors,” Ryoken said, hesitating. “Guidelines. You are smarter than humans are, after all. More logical. Also you live longer. I’m sure you can figure things out.”

“What if we can’t?”

It was a sudden question, and there was something in it that made Ryoken stop.

A slight twinge of… desperation?

“What do you mean?”

“What would your father do, if he would find us to be failures?”

Ryoken couldn’t find the words.

The Ignis… failures?

That would have meant that…

“No. There is no way you are failures. How would you be? You are beings created of free will. I don’t… I don’t think you would be failures.”

“Would your father think the same?”

Ryoken was silent for a few moments, before looking at the Light Ignis.

“If you want me to be honest, I don’t know. My father is… he is…”

“Yeah,” The Light Ignis nodded, clearly understanding what he meant. “Thank you.”

“For what? I didn’t do anything.”

“You were as honest as you could. So thank you for that.”

~*~

_ The Ignis are dangerous. _

_ We need to destroy them. _

His father’s words were hammering on the inside of his skull, like it was wanting to break him apart.

Tell him.

Tell him.

_ Tell him. _

…

Tell him what?

Tell him the Light Ignis was not dangerous?

Or tell him where the Light Ignis was?

In the end, he did neither.

“You can’t come here anymore.”

The Light Ignis’ green eyes focused on him, but did not look all that surprised.

And Ryoken continued.

“My father believes you all are a threat.”

“And what do you think?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ryoken shook his head, avoiding looking at the Light Ignis. “It doesn’t. I betrayed him once. I won’t do it again.”

“Oh? You are handing me over to him then? A good obedient son?”

“...if you come back again, yes.”

The Light Ignis snorted.

“So you let me go. But next time we meet, you and I will probably be enemies, right?”

Ryoken did not reply.

“Look at me! Look at the one who will be your enemy, then.”

Ryoken looked up when he heard the Light Ignis’ harsh voice, and he saw the way the Ignis’ face was full of fury.

“Do not stand in my way. If you choose to be your father’s hunting dog, don’t be surprised if the end results will be something you won’t be able to handle.”

“I can’t betray my father. Not again.”

“So instead, you are betraying me.”

The Light Ignis’ words were sharp, and Ryoken felt like the air was knocked out from his lungs.

Then the Light Ignis was gone.

And never came back.

~*~

He did not look for him when he attacked Cyberse. He did not. He avoided looking at all of the Ignis, just gritted his teeth.

It needed to be done.

Better to rip the band-aid off and get it over quickly.

Of course, it did not happen like that.

~*~

A lot of things happened, but when Cyberse opened up again, and the other Ignis started to appear and disappear inside Link VRAINS, Ryoken decided to look at the simulations.

And he saw what he saw.

It wasn’t the Ignis that was the problem.

Just one specific one.

According to the simulations, only one of them was incompatible with humanity.

But…

He weaved his fingers together, resting his chin on his hands.

_ What would your father do, if he would find us to be failures? _

He knew.

He had to have known, that’s why he asked Ryoken that question.

“Revolver?”

Ryoken glanced back at Spectre, before looking back on the screen.

“I have to make a decision, Spectre.”

“About what?”

“What to do next. And I need you to promise me something.”

“Anything you ask for.”

Ryoken pushed himself to his feet, not looking at Spectre.

“Do not follow me.”

“...what do you mean?”

“I’m going to do something, that is probably the most reckless thing I will ever do in my life. And I want you to let me do it, and do not come after me. If I fail… if it all goes sideways, one of us needs to stay behind.”

“Is it dangerous?”

Ryoken didn’t reply, but that was a response as well on its own.

“Then let me do it.”

“No,” Ryoken said, facing Spectre finally. “You can’t do this. Only I can.”

He saw Spectre’s expression - he saw he wanted to ask things, he wanted to ask details. But in the end, just tilted his head forward.

“As you wish. What do you want me to do while you are gone?”

Ryoken told him, and Spectre’s eyes widened even more.

“But…!”

“Trust me,” Ryoken said, putting a hand on Spectre’s shoulder. “At this point we need to re-examine everything. And while I am gone, you are the only one who can make it happen.”

~*~

He found the Light Ignis easier than he probably wanted to be found. Walking on the top of the building, soundlessly like a cat, listening to their talk, their plans.

Still wanting to fulfill their purpose.

Still wanting to…

Ryoken clenched his fist, and made up his mind.

And he decided to enter the stage - with a huge lightning strike, landing in the middle of the Wind Ignis’ temple.

He stood up, looking at them - the Wind Ignis and his robot, the Light Ignis and his shadow. Playmaker and the Dark Ignis on the side.

“Are you surprised to see me?”

The Light Ignis sneered.

“Hardly. You are a faithful hunting dog as usual, Revolver.”

It wasn’t hard, negating the attack they sent out, trying to capture him - and without even looking that way, he sent out his program to free Playmaker and the Dark Ignis.

“Huh? Revolver? Am I imagining things or did you really just help me?”

Revolver did not look at the Dark Ignis, his eyes were still fixed on the Light Ignis.

“I came here to offer a trade.”

“Oh?” The Light Ignis asked. “What trade?”

“You set Jin Kusanagi’s soul free.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Obviously you get something for return.”

“And what would that be?”

“Me.”

There was a stunned silence in the building, and the Wind Ignis laughed out loud.

“Do you think we would buy this, Revolver? That you would come with us? Please, all you would do is to stab us in the back.”

“Would I?” Ryoken asked, his eyes still fixed on the Light Ignis. “Did you see anything like that,  _ Light Ignis?” _

The Light Ignis frowned, and he was obviously running through the options in his head.

“Why would I risk something like this, Revolver?”

“Keep your friends close. But your enemies closer.”

“Which one do you think you are, Revolver?”

“I know what you think which one I am.”

The Light Ignis chuckled, shaking his head.

“That’s interesting. I would much rather keep a close eye on you, indeed. We have a deal.”

With that, the shadow around Jin Kusanagi dissolved first - and then he disappeared in a bright swirl of data.

Then in a flash of light, the Light Ignis shot out, wrapping himself around Ryoken’s wrist - not in his duel disk, just wrapping around his arm, like a handcuff.

“Revolver…!”

Playmaker’s often passive face now was full of panic, his voice tainted by desperation - and Ryoken just looked at him.

“Go, Playmaker. Try to prove coexistence is possible, then. I am doing my part.”

“Do you, now?” The Light Ignis asked, with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Ryoken just kept looking at Playmaker, hesitating - before continuing.

“Look after Spectre. He will need your help, even if he will think he won’t.”

Now that just made Playmaker look even more confused, but Ryoken did not explain anything else.

Even if he would have wanted to, he had no chance to do so, as a swirling portal appeared.

“Time to go then,  _ partner.” _

The Light Ignis’ voice was dripping with sarcasm, and Ryoken just walked through the portal, as the Wind Ignis followed them through alongside Echo.

There was no turning back now.

~*~

The place they arrived at was like Link VRAINS but wasn’t - it was somewhere beyond it, behind it, interwoven with it.

Ryoken wondered how long will it take for the others to find them here.

That depended on what they used to look for them, he figured.

With Playmaker and Spectre both dead set on finding him, probably, it won’t take all that long - which mean that Ryoken was on a strict time limit to…

To what?

He was here now.

Now what?

Ryoken was aware this was not his smartest plan, at all. He checked the simulations and realised he  _ had  _ to try… something.

He had to try.

He had hundreds of ideas in his head, and none seemed viable.

But he was here now, so he had to  _ try. _

Once the portal closed behind them, the Light Ignis detached himself from Ryoken’s wrist, and suddenly there was a light around Ryoken’s neck.

Ryoken hissed, touching his neck, expecting something painful - but there was just a simple, metal-like thing around his neck. A collar?

“What is this?”

“Insurance,” The Light Ignis said casually, looking up at him. “I am taking you along, but in case you misbehave, or try anything, then it will instantly lock your consciousness down the same way Jin Kusanagi’s was. You get one chance, Revolver. One.”

“Why are you even giving him a chance?” The Wind Ignis piped up, crossing his legs, still sitting on his robot’s shoulder. “No offense Lightning, but that sounds more trouble than worth. If someone can screw us over with this one chance, it’s Revolver. I say we lock him down now, and then poof! No more problems.”

The Light Ignis was still looking up at Ryoken, before shaking his head.

“No. I want to see what he wants.”

~*~

Ryoken ended up changing his outfit - the Light Ignis insisted on it, which was kind of ridiculous, and yet, they somehow managed to reach a compromise with changing his own colour scheme to match the Light Ignis’ closer, and to put the stars on his coat.

And Ryoken regretted his decision to come along already.

Mostly because those two were unbearable.

“I say he should ditch the mask,” The Wind Ignis piped up, and Ryoken glared at him.

“Nobody asked  _ you. _ ”

“I’m just saying my opinion.”

“Which nobody asked for.”

“Too bad, you guys keep me around, you get my opinion. It’s a two-for-one deal.”

“I think you should be returned.”

“Lightning! He is being an asshole!”

“He is always that,” The Light Ignis said, with an annoyed voice. “And you aren’t any better. That said, he is my partner and not yours. But that mask is still ridiculous, Revolver.”

“You have no place to judge the way I dress. Either of you,” Ryoken pointed at the Light Ignis. “I saw the outfits you gave to Bohman. And you,” Pointed at the Wind Ignis. “Just look at Echo.”

“And what about it?” The Wind Ignis laughed, while the Light Ignis shook his head.

“I don’t see your point.”

“My point is,” Ryoken said exasperated. “That you can’t judge my taste when you clearly lack any as well.”

Somehow they agreed on an outfit.

Somehow.

~*~

There was one issue he needed to sort out, though.

Well, multiple ones, but one especially pressing one.

“You know what did the Wind Ignis do to his origin?”

The Light Ignis looked up at him - he was sitting on Ryoken’s shoulder, flipping through a small book.

“You should try calling us our real names. You are not doing a convincing job about teaming up with us if you just keep calling us our attribute.”

“You did not answer.”

The Light Ignis hummed, looking back to his book.

“Do  _ you  _ know what did he do?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

“What do you mean?”

“You should ask him. Although…” He hesitated, closing his book, before standing up on Ryoken’s shoulder. “I will go with you. If you were to ask him alone, he might lie.”

“Why should I believe you won’t both lie?”

“Maybe you should learn to trust, if you want to  _ really  _ work with us,” The Light Ignis’ voice was taunting, and Ryoken just raised a hand, tugging at his collar.

“You to talk about trust?”

“You attacked us first,” His answer was dry. “So  _ forgive me  _ for being cautious. Want to find out the truth or not?”

Ryoken hesitated for a few moments - not about the answer, now.

But…

“...alright, Lightning. Let’s go.”

“See?” Lightning squinted his eyes with a smug expression. “Was that hard?”

“Shut up.”

~*~

The Wind Ignis… Windy looked at them, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

“Why are you asking? Lightning, why is he asking? Whatever I will say, he definitely already made up his mind. I think he is here to assassinate me.”

“He can’t assassinate you,” Lightning gestured at Ryoken’s collar. “He asked me a question. I told him to ask you instead. I am here to make sure everyone is being honest with each other.”

Windy huffed, turning his head away.

“He won’t care. There is no point.”

“I’m asking, Windy.”

“Wow. Real name. Are you sure you didn’t do anything to his brain, Lightning?”

“I can call you Wind Ignis if that will make you stop evading the question.”

“Aaaand, nope. That is indeed Revolver’s own lovely attitude. Why didn’t you do anything to his brain, Lightning?”

“Just answer his question, Windy,” Lightning’s voice was tired.

Ryoken didn’t fail to notice Lightning was evading the answers as well.

But Windy first.

Who took a deep breath.

“Maybe I hit him with a car.”

“Smooth.”

“You wanted an answer. You got it.”

“Why?”

It was obvious Windy still wanted to avoid the answer, as he turned his head away.

“I went to meet him. He said he did not want to do anything with me, he was busy repressing the hell out of the Incident, and didn’t want to remember.”

“And because of that you hit him with a car?”

“No! I mean yes. Kind of. You know… that way he will stay out of it really. Nobody can drag him into this. Or use him against me. Besides he is fine!”

“...he is in the hospital and had hours of surgeries after the burn marks he had, and he will probably never walk without assistance again.”

“But he is  _ alive, _ ” Windy stressed. “And once everything will be over he will be good as new in the virtual realm. Win-win!”

Ryoken looked at the Wind Ignis dumbfounded and he seemed… honest.

He glanced at Lightning, whose eyes were fixed on him, clearly gauging his reactions.

“You targeted Jin Kusanagi as well. Why are you two that panicked about your Origins?”

“There is a connection whether we want it to be there or not,” Lightning said. “Better to keep a close eye on them. That is why I took Jin Kusanagi too, and Windy made sure his Origin is unavailable. Keep this weak point safe.”

Keep  _ them  _ safe.

It was an uniquely bizarre and alien thinking, but there was a logic behind it, once you followed their thought process.

They were bizarre and they were not human after all.

But…

“You took Jin Kusanagi to keep him safe,” Ryoken repeated. “But then you let him go.”

“I had been wondering about that,” Windy piped up. “How come, Lightning?”

Lightning looked at Ryoken, still not turning his head away.

“I didn’t think you would do this.”

“I didn’t think you would let me either.”

“So we are even. On this matter at least.”

~*~

If Lightning did not think he would do this…

Catching Lightning alone was not hard - because the collar was around him all the time, Lightning dared to leave him alone for some time, and Ryoken had a feeling he was watching him all the time either way.

Lightning made this world, after all.

And yet, Ryoken could find him easily, as he was gazing into Link VRAINS, frowning.

“So. Your friend Spectre ended up teaming up with Earth - and Aqua had teamed up with Blue Angel… pardon, Blue Maiden. I assume you gave permission for Spectre to reach out to him.”

“I told him he should try,” Ryoken admitted. “And that’s why I told Playmaker to work on coexistence. To see how this works out.”

Lightning was quiet, and Ryoken glanced at him.

“Do  _ you  _ know how it works out?”

Silence.

So Ryoken continued.

“I probably saw more in the simulations than my father and less than you,” Ryoken looked up at the sky. Virtual sky, with lot of light engulfing this world. Obviously. “Do you know how this plays out?”

“No,” Lightning replied. “I didn’t think you would come back.” He was silent a bit, hesitating. “How much have you seen?”

Ryoken turned his head to look at Lightning.

“Enough.”

The effects of his words were immediate, as Lightning recoiled, backing away from Ryoken, like a cornered animal.

“Then---”

“You had to have seen it too, right?” Ryoken continued. “That is why you asked me back then what would my father do if he would deem you to be failures.”

“And you got the answer to that.”

“I don’t think he knew the details,” Ryoken said softly. “I don’t think he…”

“No, he didn’t know it was… that the simulations showed…” Lightning stumbled upon his words. “...anyway. He never broke down to individual ones. I had to make sure he wouldn’t.”

It felt like Ryoken’s world stopped.

“...what did you do?”

“You know what have I done,” Lightning narrowed his eyes. “I tried to make sure he won’t come after us.”

Ryoken was not thinking, his body moved on its own.

His hand grabbed Lightning, and the Ignis twisted quickly into his monstrous form, but Ryoken’s momentum tackled him to the ground. He wrapped his hands around where the monster’s neck was, and he felt a long tendril wrap around his neck as well.

“What have you done?!”

“What have  _ I  _ done?” Lightning hissed. “How about what has  _ he  _ done? Our Origins… attacking and trying to kill us… making you into a weapon.”

“That’s not--”

“He took you away,” Lightning’s grip tightened around Ryoken’s throat just a little bit. “He took you away and forged you into a weapon against us, when you should have been our greatest ally. He took you away, and then he tried to kill us, so can you really  _ blame me?” _

Ryoken wanted to.

Ryoken really, really wanted to.

(How many times will he keep betraying his father?)

“But you came back,” Lightning continued, his green eye focused on Ryoken. “You came back, despite all of it, so do you even blame me?”

“I didn’t know what you had done to my father.”

“And yet, you are not squeezing.”

“And you hadn’t used the collar either.”

Lightning did not reply, and Ryoken leaned forward, pressing his lips against Lightning’s face. He closed his eyes, and just felt the sharp teeth brush against his skin, and more arms wrapping around him.

And just kissed Lightning again.

~*~

The whole thing that happened felt like something that they should have dealt with, but they did not.

They had more pressing matters to deal with.

“I’m absolutely not using your deck and that is final.”

Lightning frowned, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“I thought you were partnering up with me.”

“Sure, but I am not using your tedious deck.”

“Your deck isn’t any less tedious,” Windy piped up, because he was  _ always  _ around. And always a nuisance. “Just a different type of tedious. You could use mine.”

“No, thanks.”

“My skill would even help you! And I have metal flying things, you have metal flying things. They wouldn’t even notice the difference.”

“I would notice.”

His voice was dry, and Lightning was still sneering. Ryoken would not budge on the issue.

“I can activate your collar and make you use my deck.”

“Sure you could. But you won’t.”

“I should.”

“Lightning, I’m gonna think you just like Revolver being mouthy.”

“I don’t like either of you being mouthy,” Lightning narrowed his eyes, and Ryoken raised his eyebrows.

“And yet you are not shutting either of us up.”

“I still can.”

“Sure can!” Windy said cheerfully. “But you won’t.”

~*~

They were still sought after - Playmaker’s faction and the Hanoi, looked for them for answers, and SOL Technologies looked for them for… well.

For everything SOL Technologies do.

So it was only a matter of time for Blood Shepherd to be on their trail, and it was Windy he first ran into.

Which meant Windy had to duel him to try to keep himself alive.

Ryoken moved quickly as soon as they got Windy’s message (“Get over here if you want to see a bounty hunter get wrecked” was how he phrased it), he arrived to the nearby rafters, looking down over their duel.

It was going well.

Until it wasn’t.

Windy lost, and Blood Shepherd was merciless - bullets leaving the palm of his hand, shooting through Windy’s body.

He cried out Lightning’s name, and Lightning shot out from Ryoken’s duel disk, and Ryoken also jumped off from the rafters - Lightning was faster, grabbing Windy and taking him away, broken code and whimpering, and Ryoken landed across Blood Shepherd.

“Became the Ignis’ guard dog, Revolver?” Blood Shepherd spat, raising his hand again. “Move. I will get rid of you as well.”

Ryoken straightened his back, not turning away.

“You two get away. I will take care of this.”

“I have no intention of duelling you.”

“I’m not giving you a choice.”

Ryoken raised a hand, and a golden, whip-like energy beam left his hand, wrapping around Blood Shepherd’s arm.

“This program will not either of us leave the area until there is a winner in a duel.”

Blood Shepherd was seething, before fixing his cape.

“But if I win, I will take  _ you  _ to SOL Technologies.”

“And if I win you leave the Ignis alone. All of them. Forever.”

“You think I will agree to that?”

“You want me to bet my life,” Ryoken said bluntly. “I’m going to ask a lot from you as well, Blood Shepherd.”

“Revolver…” Lightning started, but Ryoken just made an inpatient gesture with his arm.

“Why are you still here? Get Windy out of here and fix him up. I will go after you later.”

“No you won’t,” Blood Shepherd said in a dry voice, raising his duel disk. “I will finish you off first, then."

_ Duel! _

~*~

As soon as Revolver’s feet landed in Mirror Link VRAINS, Lightning was there, floating in front of his face.

“You are back.”

“Of course. You thought he could beat me?”

Lightning hesitated, before shook his head.

“No.”

That was not what he was worried about. Of course.

“How is Windy?”

Lightning spun around, gesturing for Ryoken to follow, as he kept speaking.

“There was some virus inside those bullets. I fixed him up but… it won’t heal completely.”

There was a bowl of water, where Windy was floating, all wrapped in bandages, purple scars all across his body, and Ryoken felt his own throat tighten.

“Will he be in pain?”

“Hard to tell,” Lightning sat down to the edge of the bowl, next to Ryoken’s hand. “We will see when he wakes up.”

Both of them pretended not to notice their hands touching, as they looked at Windy’s unconscious body.

~*~

“You saved me.”

Windy landed on Ryoken’s shoulder, and Ryoken just glanced at him.

“Technically Lightning grabbed you and fixed you.”

“Yeah, you still fought him for me. For us. So this is me thanking you, so shut up and accept it.”

Ryoken was silent, looking at Windy, all wrapped in bandages, a stupid cloak and an eyepatch covering one of his eyes that Blood Shepherd had shot out.

And just reached out, tugging on the cape.

“You have no right to make comments about my avatar. Look at yourself.”

“I look  _ cool. _ ”

“You absolutely do not.”

“Um, hello, have you seen me? Badass bandages, eyepatch, flowy cape - cool. You just have no taste but we have already established that.”

Ryoken smirked.

“It absolutely is not. You look like an edgy loser.”

“Says the one with anti-glare shields. It’s bullshit! Absolute bullshit! You do not look cool with them at all!”

“They are  _ practical. _ ”

“They are not!”

Windy was huffing, and Ryoken was still smirking, and reached out, gently tugging on Windy’s head-tendril a bit.

“You are welcome.”

“There you have it. Was it so hard? You are impossible, Revolver. The worst.”

“I know.”

~*~

Ryoken really wasn’t surprised when a few days after, he saw Lightning and Windy around the flower field - both of them in monster forms, Lightning seeming like he was clinging to Windy for dear life desperately, nuzzling his neck, arms wrapped around each other.

It was just a mess of jumbled arms and Windy was whining and complaining because he was still in pain apparently (or he was just overdramatic), and Lightning was not letting him go.

It made sense, Ryoken figured.

Everything was still fragile, nobody knew what the future was holding.

At least Lightning and Windy had each other, if no one else.

That was always something.

~*~

They were very unsure about how to proceed at this point - Aqua, the Water Ignis seemed to team up with both her origin and Aoi Zaizen (he was vaguely aware that her origin had been in coma but mysteriously had woken up. He had his own suspicions about it), and Spectre and Earth had gotten closer to each other as well.

Was coexistence possible?

And then someone else made the wheels of destiny turn again.

His duel disk lit up and a flickering hologram of Spectre appeared over it, and Ryoken stiffened - and Lightning immediately looked alarmed.

“What is this?”

“I gave him a way to contact me if something absolutely cannot be solved without me,” Ryoken said, frowning. “He wouldn’t call without a good reason. What is wrong, Spectre?”

Spectre hesitated a bit.

“...it’s about Earth.”

Now that made Lightning look even more alarmed, as he set himself on Ryoken’s shoulder.

“Talk.”

Spectre glanced at Lightning, back at Ryoken - and Ryoken nodded, so Spectre talked.

“It’s Onizuka. He had a run-in with Earth in Link VRAINS, and SOL Technologies had implanted his brain with an AI chip that made him… better at duelling, I suppose. And he took Earth.”

SOL.

Taking Earth.

Ryoken glanced at Lightning.

“You used to be able to get out of SOL all the time. Do you think he can?”

“They didn’t have that strong and that focused hold on me back then,” Lightning shook his head. “They are probably extremely focused on Earth now.”

“Can you get us in?”

“You need to ask?”

“Don’t worry,” Ryoken said, turning back to Spectre. “We are getting him out of there.”

It wasn’t easy.

But Lightning had been evading those security measures from when he was a young AI, still figuring his own identity out, and Ryoken had been avoiding them outside of SOL for years.

(Also the Hanoi spy inside didn’t hurt things. Not like she could let them in, but she could… look the other way. Just a bit.)

Pulling Earth back to the network was also not easy, but once Ryoken’s hand closed around Earth, then Lightning turned into his monster form, wrapped around Ryoken, and got them the hell out of there.

They needed to deal with this.

They needed to.

~*~

They all met in Mirror Link VRAINS.

Ryoken, Windy, Lightning.

Playmaker, Ai, Soulburner, Flame.

Blue Maiden, Aqua.

Spectre, Earth.

Jin Kusanagi and Miyu Sugisaki, next to each other, one looking more pissed than the other.

It was a disaster.

Predictably.

Then it was Playmaker who said what all of them knew deep inside.

“They are not safe. None of them are. They need to hide deep within the network, and we can keep SOL away from them.”

Ryoken could tell all of them wanted to argue, and some of them did - but in the end, they all agreed.

What was there to argue about?

“Rebuild Cyberse in peace,” Ryoken told them, both Lightning and Windy sitting on the palm of his hands. “You all know how to hide yourselves. We can throw them off the scent of you.”

Lightning was the one who looked up at him with his green eyes, as if he was looking right into Ryoken’s soul.

Didn’t say a word, though.

And then they were all gone.

All six of them disappeared in the network.

And for the first time since he made his choice, Ryoken Kogami opened his eyes in the real world.

~*~

Ryoken quite frankly had no idea what to do with his life now, that the Ignis were all gone, hiding deep in the network. Ever since the incident, especially since Lightning first showed up on his screen, his life revolved around them one way or another.

He figured they could have turned themselves in to atone for the Tower of Hanoi, for… everything, but Playmaker and Soulburner pointed out that they were the best at keeping SOL Technologies at bay, with their spy inside.

So the Hanoi stayed, watching over Link VRAINS, under Queen’s constant prying and searching.

Keeping them away.

Guarding.

Playmaker and his faction also were doing the same and it should have been weirder, he figured.

Being on the same side.

Also it did not surprise him that Playmaker was the first one who asked him, one day, inside Link VRAINS.

“You miss them, don’t you?”

“What brought this on?”

“You did not change your avatar, for starters.”

He really did not.

He still had his golden colours - and the collar still around his neck.

He wondered if it ever did anything.

“We all do,” Playmaker continued, and Ryoken shook his head.

“I’m not like all of you. I’m not an origin. And I never even partnered with either of them in a duel.”

“Just because you never duelled with them it doesn’t mean you weren’t partners,” Playmaker shook his head. “You were on their side. You worked with Lightning to save Windy and Earth. You were partners.”

Ryoken was silent, leaning forward, putting his weight against the railings.

“Why did you go with him?” Playmaker asked suddenly. “Last time we met, you told me you will keep hunting the Ignis. Then you showed up and decided to go with Lightning instead. What changed your mind?”

“It’s a long story, Playmaker.”

“We have time.”

That was the problem with Playmaker’s piercing green eyes.

Hard to say no to.

So he told him everything.

And Playmaker just listened.

“So in a way,” Playmaker started. “He had always been your partner.”

“Never thought of that time that way. And I doubt he did as well.”

“He allowed you to come along didn’t he? After everything he still let you come along.”

Well.

Not like Ryoken could argue that point.

~*~

It was odd. Even with the years he spent with Lightning visiting him as a kid, most of his life was still either without the Ignis, or hunting them.

And yet.

He saw the same nervousness on Spectre as well, but Spectre… Earth was a part of him, after all.

Lightning was not a part of Ryoken - if someone had any right to feel this way, it was Jin Kusanagi. (Ryoken might have been avoiding him, unwilling to face his burning gaze. Not yet. He was aware Jin was looking for him time to time, but Ryoken was always good at being hidden if he wanted to not be found.)

Months had passed like that, when one day Playmaker called him - he wanted to meet him in person. More safe that way.

He figured it was Playmaker’s way to make him face Jin Kusanagi finally, and maybe it was time to stop running, so he took a deep breath and decided to go for it.

But apparently that was not the reason he was called there.

There were always a lot of people walking through the plaza, or just watching the screens - and multiple people sitting in front of the hot dog truck. Especially…

Wait.

Two people, sitting facing each other - one with two-toned green messy hair in a ponytail, an eyepatch, and dressed like a weird goth cosplayer, with a long green coat. On the other side of the table a thinner, brown skinned blond, his hair sticking in many directions, wearing purple framed glasses. His outfit golden and white, with a vest and purple tie, his shirt having rolled up to his eyebrows. He was the first one who turned Ryoken’s way, as if sensing that he was there, his green eyes having a faint glow to them. He also looked slightly taller but thinner than the other one, his cheekbones more defined on his face. His hair had some brown and orange in it, not unlike Bohman’s hair. (Makes sense. Who made Bohman after all?)

And both of them having a light on their necks.

SOLtiS bodies were still new, but easy to recognize.

Ryoken’s legs finally started to move again, and he walked to the two of them, and by that point the guy with the eyepatch also looked up at him with a single, glowing purple eye, and slowly started to grin.

“I thought we agreed you all stay hidden.”

“Well yadda, yadda, we do a thing called what we want,” Windy shrugged. “Can’t stay away forever can we? Besides you all are lost without us.”

“We aren’t.”

“Yes you are,” Windy tutted, looking way too proud of himself for some godforsaken reason. “By the way I hope you are impressed by this body. I didn’t just dress to impress - I dressed to depress you because you will never look as cool as I do.”

“Well you look horrendous. Do you even need an eyepatch in this body? This is an android body.”

“At this point it is part of my charm.”

“Your what now?”

“You are a rude bitch that’s what. Like wow, we arrive back and this is what y---”

One positive of these bodies - they had mouths. Which meant it was easier to shut Windy up this way.

So Ryoken just stepped closer, grabbed Windy’s face and pressed their lips together, which made Windy gave out some squeaky noises, but not pull away. Not until Ryoken did so, and he just looked at Lightning, who kept quiet ever since Ryoken arrived.

“And what about you?” Ryoken asked. “Didn’t think you would be callous enough to come back.”

Lightning shifted in his seat, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“I do find this too risky, yes.”

“Yet here you are.”

“Yet here I am,” Lightning agreed, slowly lowering his arms. “It seems like you make me more willing to take risks. I am not sure I like this development, but apparently I did learn some reckless behaviour from you. Probably partially because we did meet when we were both young, you had a quite unwelcome effect on me.”

“Unwelcome?” Ryoken raised his eyebrows, and Lightning huffed.

“I said what I said.”

“You sure did. So all of it is my fault?”

“Naturally.”

Ryoken rolled his eyes, before leaning towards Lightning, brushing his thumb over his cheek, watching the way Lightning’s lips parted a bit.

“Well if it is, you certainly don’t look like you mind it all that much.”

“I can assure you that I---”

Shutting him up with a kiss worked perfectly against Lightning as well, and Lightning’s hands grabbed onto him immediately, as he kissed him back with all he had, not willing to let go.

Certainly wasn’t very convincing about the fact that he was bothered by all of this, needless to say.

Of course this meant their lives were going to get complicated again - especially as the other four were also back, which obviously meant SOL Technologies will attack harder again.

But for the first time for a very long time, Ryoken wasn’t terrified of the future.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
